This book explores the ethnogeography, or place names and the cultural and historical knowledge associated with them, of the Kiowa. Except for a few English versions and translations of Kiowa place names, most are unknown to non-Kiowa and even to many Kiowa. Studies of Oklahoma place names (Gould 1933; Shirk 1965) include only a few entries associated with the Kiowa, primarily those related to the post-allotment Anglo division of reservation lands in 1901 and the formation of towns and post offices. Only the names of a few mountains, streams, and historical sites are recorded. Reflecting on the mixture of Indian...

Naming places is a cultural universal, a tool by which human groups identify, claim, and interact with their physical surroundings. Whether the name is linked to a base camp, a resource area, a historical event, a seasonal or annual migration, or a permanent residence, human groups use place names to distinguish and communicate about their physical surroundings. In turn, such communication promotes the more efficient organization of human activities. Because human activities are linked to geographic locales, much discourse among all peoples is spatially anchored by means of place names, which often appear in important narratives (Thornton 1997:220).

Places are...

Kiowa place names tend to be of two main kinds: names referencing geographic forms, or references to locations where cultural and historical events occurred. These types can be further divided into water-and landbased name forms (see Map 1).

Throughout the late eighteenth century and the nineteenth century, the Kiowa used a variety of lexicon to distinguish different states and configurations of water. Because the Kiowa language specifies single, dual, and triplural forms of subjects, the letterss, d,andtare used in parentheses to distinguish these forms. Water forms include . ā́usḗ (s/d ) and ā́usḗgàu (t, any...

In geography, the body of literature attempting to define what is meant by “homeland” is considerable (Nostrand 1980, 1992, 1993; Carlson 1990; Nostrand and Estaville 1993, 2001:xiii–xxiii; Schnell 1994:2–8, 2000:155– 157, 2001). Although several scholars have provided discussions hinting at the concept of a homeland, it was not until Richard Nostrand’s extensive work on Hispanic communities that the idea emerged as an analytical tool in geography (Schnell 1994:5). As Nostrand (1992:214) writes,

The concept of a “homeland” although abstract and elusive has at least three basic elements: a people, a place, and identity with place. The people must...

Plains Indian cultures have left numerous forms of native paintings and drawings executed on clothing, robes, tipis and tipi liners, shields and shield covers, calendars, ledger books, religious and historical drawings, maps, and other forms that scholars may study. Although two-dimensional renderings by women tended toward abstract and geometric designs, those by men were more naturalistic, showing humans, animals, and occasionally flora and fauna in profile. Some ledger art by men was set against cartographic backgrounds depicting hills, mountains, streams, and timber groves, as well as man-made features such as trails, roads, buildings, and wagons. Although somewhat rare, these forms...

Although contemporary Kiowa are most concentrated in Caddo, Kiowa, and Comanche counties of Oklahoma, many southern plains locales bear names originating in Kiowa names (see Map 5). While some are well known, others are scarcely known beyond their immediate community. They range from local place names in the Kiowa community of southwestern Oklahoma to more distant places whose names refer to the Kiowa, such as Kiowa County, Kansas; Kiowa Creek in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle; and the small towns of Kiowa in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Alaska. While a large number of Kiowa place names are still viable, major...